Now that the dust has settled on an intriguing Leinster SHC round robin, it's clear that Westmeath were one of the big winners in this year's hurling championship.
Westmeath senior hurlers produced an impressive Leinster SHC campaign where Joe Fortune's side retained their status in the Liam McCarthy for 2023. After picking up a historic draw against Wexford, an impressive victory over Laois and running Dublin close there is a lot for Westmeath supporters to be optimistic about.
This achievement came very much under the radar. After Carlow in 2019 and Antrim in 2021 failed to retain their status in the Leinster championship after getting promoted, there is a fear that teams will yo-yo to the Joe McDonagh but this is a challenge Westmeath overcame.
There is quality when you look all over the Westmeath side. From full-back Tommy Doyle who is undoubtedly one of the top defenders in the game, veteran Aonghus Clarke, former Galway hurler Davy Glennon, the lively Niall O'Brien and sharpshooter Killian Doyle who racked up a total of 0-55 throughout the Leinster SHC.
Manager Joe Fortune previously guided the Dublin minor and u21 hurlers to Leinster titles in 2016 and 2017, as well as spending time with Ballyboden St Enda's, where the south Dublin club claimed a county title in 2018. Before returning to the inter county game, the Wexford native returned to his home county where he spent a year with the Wexford U20 hurlers in 2021.
In 2021-2022 season Fortune accepted the Westmeath senior hurling manager role, and he drafted in former Leinster title winner with Dublin Peter Kelly along with former Westmeath footballer Eddie Casey and Cork man Paul O'Donoghue. Along with retaining their Leinster SHC status, his side went on to claim the NHL Division 2 title and the Kehoe Cup, a pre-season competition.
Our own Paul Shaughnessy sat down with Joe Fortune where he discussed staying up in Leinster, the leaders in their group, winning silverware, competing with the big guns and the potential of this team.
Westmeath senior hurling manager Joe Fortune
PS: How satisfying was it to stay up in Leinster?
JF: ‘’A really good year on the basis that I saw progression on the group players from the time I went up. We had three aims at the start of the year with the Kehoe Cup, Division two in the league and the Leinster championship. It was really enjoyable experience with a fantastic bunch of players but there’s challenges involved in inter county management. It was a big learning process for me from being involved with Dublin underage teams and Ballyboden for a couple of years and going into my first senior inter county management job. There was tough days but on a whole realizing that we had three aims and getting them all done, it was a really successful year’’
PS: Was it a challenging trying to compete with the likes of Wexford, Galway, Kilkenny and Dublin?
JF: ‘’We came out of Division 2 playing really well in a final against Down learning a lot about ourselves. We had some really good results and some really poor days out as well during the league. The lifespan of an inter-county hurler at this level is probably about 7-12 years max. If you get into a serious inter county team at 20 years of age the likelihood is you’ve got maybe between eight to 12 years is what you’re looking at.
And I spoke to the players where everyone was talking about the match against Laois but I couldn’t understand how many opportunities were the Tommy Doyle’s, the Aonghus Clarke’s and the Niall O’Brien’s going to get to play senior Leinster championship in Cusack against Dublin, Kilkenny and Wexford. I couldn’t but not think to prepare for every match. I felt we had to attack every game as what they were and a massive opportunity to pit yourselves against the best management teams, the best players and see where this group were at as a whole. It ended up with us saving our best performance until last two weeks. I never once spoke about Laois genuinely until the week before we played them’’
PS: What learnings did Westmeath take from the Galway and Kilkenny match?
JF: ‘’I suppose going into the Kilkenny match the big thing for me what this was going to be Kilkenny’s first Leinster championship match and it was same for ourselves. It was at home in Cusack park and some of the players had a great day against Kilkenny at U21 level a few years ago. The big thing we learned was that we had spoken about if were good enough for this level we needed to show it on the big day. For 35-40 minutes we were really in the mix until we had a man sent off. We were four of five points up at one stage. After going toe -toe to one of the best teams in the country I thought how can we progress this further into the next week and the next week.
Going up to Galway we felt we were in a really good place. We played Galway a week after they drew with Wexford, and they looked like a hurt animal when we arrived up. There was strong wind in the first half and Galway made the most of it and had the game out of sight in first half. We underestimated the intensity Galway were going to bring. Our work-rate wasn’t good enough and when your work-rate and endeavor isn’t good enough you’re going to be found out.
PS: Was there honest discussions between players and management during the year?
JF: ‘’Sometimes when you do an interview it can be picked up wrong depending on how you say something to somebody. What happened that day was we played Down in Cusack Park. We just didn’t play well against Down in that league game for whatever reason. People thought the players locked the management out but that wasn’t the case basically the players locked themselves into a room and asked themselves the question was this good enough. It was defining moment for me any team I’ve been involved with you need it to be player led. For me they took great responsibility that day and knew the standards that were expected.
PS: What was the turning point for Westmeath during this season?
JF: ‘’The big turning point for me in the Leinster senior hurling championship was to see how they could do against Wexford. For the very first time in Westmeath the kids and supporters were getting their Westmeath jersey signed by Westmeath players rather than players from the bigger counties. I never saw that in Westmeath until after the Wexford game. It was first real time I felt the players had got the accolades they deserve. I never compared us to anyone else in games. If you get close to a team it doesn’t really mean anything each game takes on a life of it’s own. That result gave us solace that we can draw with Wexford. We spoke about how proud we were as a group I’m lucky enough my mam and dad are still alive and from Wexford and that’s where I’m from. I said it to reporters at the end of the game I always knew that group of Wexford hurlers were a proud group and that there was always going to be a reaction.
PS: How important was it to back up the Wexford result against Laois?
JF: ‘’All of that advice and management had to come from me. No matter what happened against Wexford we were always going to have to beat Laois to avoid relegation to the Joe McDonagh. Some of players spoke like Tommy Doyle and Tommy Gallagher who was injured after the game. They hadn’t beaten Laois in competitive championship action since 1968. We had that everywhere in the week leading up to the game and that this was our chance to beat Laois. And now it’s how will we react to having a successful year and the players need this chance now to switch off and enjoy next couple weeks and then go back to their clubs.
PS: What is the potential of this Westmeath team?
JF: ‘’The potential in any group is decided by the group. The hurlers are there but the big thing for me is what’s coming next like your 20’s team, your development squad from your 20-22 year olds. Facing into division one next year looking at having something like Limerick, Cork, Clare and Wexford in our division next year and everyone will automatically talk about Westmeath being in the relegation play-off.
The big thing is whether this group of hurlers are willing to train as division one hurlers and put in the time as Liam McCarthy hurlers which I’ve no doubt they will. It’s hard to look that far ahead. The main goal is to maintain our Liam McCarthy status and stay in Division one and hope then that the county board and development squads push through a number of players each year to bring them to that level. The Tommy Doyle’s and Aonghus Clarke’s are not going to be around forever so I think it’s really important to bring through that youth to maintain the level were at.
